Benzion Netanyahu: A warrior-scholar falls in Israel

Zionism was in his DNA and I have rarely met a more passionate Jewish patriot or a prouder Jew.

Benzion Netanyahu.
(photo credit:Yoni Reif)

I had already twice hosted Binyamin Netanyahu – at the time Israel’s deputy
foreign minister – at the University of Oxford before I extended my first
invitation to his scholarly father to lecture in turn.

The elderly
Netanyahu had recently published his internationally- celebrated opus Origins of
the Inquisition in Fifteenth Century Spain, and I was fascinated by his theory
of anti-Semitism extending not to the beginnings of Christianity but five
hundred years before the birth of Jesus.

I was likewise taken by the
monumental sweep of his Spanish Inquisition narrative, a subject that had long
fascinated me, and wanted him to address the subject with our
students.

Finally, I wanted to meet the man whose fierce Jewish
patriotism had raised two of Israel’s greatest sons, Yoni Netanyahu, the brave
commando who fell leading Israel’s Entebbe rescue operation, and Binyamin, who
by the time we hosted his father was serving as Israel’s prime
minister.

Professor Netanyahu, accompanied by his son Ido – whose caring
for, and patience with, his father I shall never forget – would eventually
lecture for all three of our L’Chaim Society branches, in Oxford, Cambridge and
London, with large student groups attending each. The lectures demonstrated the
encyclopedic scope of his scholarship and, at about 90 minutes each, his
ferocious mental stamina and laser-like focus, though he was greatly advanced in
years.

What I enjoyed the most was the downtime we spent together, with
long drives between the cities he was to speak at and then sitting at his London
hotel together.

Here was a Jewish nationalist of phenomenal
determination.

Zionism was in his DNA and I have rarely met a more
passionate Jewish patriot or a prouder Jew. He had a sweeping view of history
and could clearly argue the precarious state of the Jewish people throughout
time. He believed in the totality of the Land of Israel and that the Jewish
state dare not make territorial concessions that would undermine its security
and history.

As providence would have it, I was actually with him Friday
afternoon, October 23, 1998, at his London hotel when his son, the prime
minister of Israel, signed the Wye River Memorandum that committed Israel to
withdraw from territory it was required to transfer to the Palestinian
Authority.

The agreement was all over the news and we watched part of it
on TV. Professor Netanyahu seemed deeply agitated, severely criticizing the
Herculean and unfair pressure being brought to bear by the international
community on Israel, in general, and on his son in particular, to relinquish
land. One could see a deep connection between father and son and he spoke
lovingly of the unimaginable responsibilities his son faced.

After his
visit to Oxford, I began visiting him at his modest home in Jerusalem on my
trips to Israel a few times a year. He welcomed me warmly and humbly each and
every time.

Although greatly advanced in years, he would give me hours of
his time. We spoke of history, Jewish identity, modern politics and human
relationships. He asked detailed questions about the welfare of our students
back in the United Kingdom and the state of my activities.

I remember
once summoning the courage to ask him about the loss of his son Yoni, arguably
Israel’s greatest war hero. He responded quietly about the sacrifices all
Israeli families had to make for the country to endure. He never boasted about
his son’s military glory and spoke of him as he were a common soldier. It goes
without saying that he rarely discussed his middle son’s achievement as premiere
of his country, and on the occasions when the prime minister interrupted our
conversations by calling his father, he never told me. I only knew because he
mentioned his son’s name while speaking to him. Indeed, at his UK lectures some
in the audience praised him as the father of the Israel’s prime minister. He
quietly thanked them and changed the subject. He was there to discuss the
Spanish Inquisition and scholarship.

Professor Benzion Netanyahu was a
man of rare humility, scholarship, patriotism and sacrifice.

His
commitment to the State of Israel and the Jewish community will long serve as an
inspiration and blessing to people everywhere. And there can be no question that
the iron commitment toward the Jewish people’s security shown by Binyamin
Netanyahu, especially with regard to the current nuclear threat posed by Iran,
was inculcated in a son who deeply loved, admired and respected his learned
father.

The writer, “America’s Rabbi’” is the international best-selling
author of 27 books and has just published Kosher Jesus.